The present invention relates to wafer manufacturing methods, and in particular to computer-implemented automatic methods and systems for manufacturing recipes feedback control.
In integrated circuit (IC) related manufacturing foundries, such as semiconductor product foundries, manufacturing recipes are applied to manufacturing tools for IC product manufacture. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a conventional method of manufacturing recipe feedback control. Manufacturing recipes 100 are generally stored in a manufacturing execution system (MES) database connected to manufacturing tools. When a wafer or wafer lot arrives at a manufacturing tool 102, the manufacturing tool 102 verifies the wafer or wafer lot. A proper or prearranged manufacturing recipe is selected from the MES database. The arriving wafer or wafer lot is then processed by the manufacturing tool 102 according to the manufacturing recipe. After manufacturing, the wafer or wafer lot is transferred to a metrology tool 104 to measure manufacturing result, such as a film deposition thickness, and to acquire feedback information. The manufacturing recipes 100 are then modified manually by operators 106 based on the feedback information.
Such manual modification of manufacturing recipes is time-consuming and error-prone. Additionally, relationships among manufacturing recipes are complex, including one-to-one, one-to-multiple, and multiple-to-one correlation types. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating conventional relationships among manufacturing recipes. Manufacturing Recipe-A 200 is a process related to a multi-layered operation, comprising manufacturing Recipe-B 202 and Recipe-C 204, thus the relationship is a one-to-multiple type. Manufacturing Recipe-B 202, Recipe-C 204, and Recipe-D 206 form manufacturing Recipe-E 208, thus the relationship is a multiple-to-one type. Similarly, manufacturing Recipe-C 204 and Recipe-D 206 form manufacturing Recipe-F 210. Therefore, manufacturing Recipe-E 208 is a common recipe for manufacturing Recipe-B 202, Recipe-C 204, and Recipe-D 206 and manufacturing Recipe-F 210 is a common recipe for manufacturing Recipe-C 204 and Recipe-D 206.
Here, manufacturing Recipe-G 212 does not actually exist, but may be formed by manipulations of other recipes. For example, manufacturing Recipe-G 212 is a resulting recipe 214 of Recipe-A 200 less the process of Recipe-C 204. Thus, manufacturing Recipe-G 212 is a virtual recipe.
Manual modification of common or virtual recipes is difficult. For example, if manufacturing Recipe-B 202 has been changed, manufacturing Recipe-E 208 must be changed accordingly. For virtual manufacturing recipes, manufacturing Recipe-G 212 cannot be recognized by operators but need to be modified for manufacturing. As relationships among recipes become more complicated, modification becomes increasingly difficult. Thus, automatic methods and systems for manufacturing recipe feedback control are desirable.